Here in Western Mass it’s below 0F on Groundhog’s/Candlemas Day, February 2. Any self respecting groundhog would not be leaving its warm(er) burrow to go outside. It has started out sunny but won’t last, clouds rolling in by 9AM.
On Saturday I spent most of it either writing a post, finding content for a post, or filing old posts so I could find stuff. My posts are written in Word docs and then saved with the URL on the date written. Later I hope to go back and file them by content (farm, garden, cooking, chickens, etc.) so I can look at a subject for whatever I need. I also date the file name and file under the year the subject was written in.
Remember this serves as what I call memory, as I don’t have much of one. I hadn’t done it since March 22, 2022. On Saturday I finished 2022 and started 2023, making it through February.
I also sorta put the kitchen to rights later in the day and when my brother got up, we collected the trash and went to the dump. We learned something on the trip. We are required to put a paid for sticker on each bag. So my brother stuck them on at the house. Well, by the time we got to the dump, they had all blown off it; it was so cold the adhesive froze.
Fortunately it was so cold the attendants were inside, so we tossed the bags and then looked for the stickers (bright orange) on the way home. We actually found 1! Now we know, put the stickers on at the dump…
I spent time off and on reading the Change Your Diet book.
Masonry heater wood shed, ¾ gone
There’s a saying:
Half your wood and half your hay, you should have by Candlemas Day.
The masonry heater shed is too empty. I suspect I didn’t build it big enough…
Wood stove woodshed, just about half full
Still a stack or more left in there
But the wood stove shed is doing well. We should be okay. The wood stove shed wood can be burned in the masonry heater; it’s just not as dry.
Small garden mulch hay
The hay I currently use is to feed the soil biology, not animals. But it’s doing pretty well, so far.
Big garden mulch hay
This garden is a bit more shaded and has more snow but the hay is still plenty thick.
There is also a stack of extra hay and the stall in the barn is full. I think there’s enough to finish the New Herb garden which didn’t get done last fall.
To celebrate Groundhog’s Day, Tom and family always watch the movie “Groundhog’s Day” on the day. But this year they have designated the month of February to “Time Loop” movie month and Groundhog’s Day leads off. It’s probably the only one I will see.
So Sunday evening I will be at theirs to watch it. I plan to bring 
I should be finishing the seed charts and pay bills/doing budget, but I’m pretty stuck on filing those old posts correctly, so I bet that’s what I do in addition to cooking and reading the book.